India may have justified its top ranking by returning from the West Indies with optimum points in its maiden assignment of the World Test Championship.
However, as the national selection panel sits down on Thursday to select the squad for the home Test series versus South Africa, M.S.K. Prasad & Co. will be in a dilemma on how to resolve the opening combination conundrum.
Despite Virat Kohli’s men having triumphed in its last three Test series in the last 12 months — a rare series win in Australia sandwiched between home and away victories versus West Indies — opening combination has been far from being stable during this period.
Five batsmen tried out
Ever since the selectors and the team management decided to look beyond Shikhar Dhawan after the series in England exactly a year ago, the Indian team has tried out five batsmen as openers.
What’s worse is none of the four opening combinations has worked. The first-wicket stand averaged 28.07 in the 14 innings over the last 12 months.
Once the selectors moved on from the combination of Dhawan and M. Vijay, K.L. Rahul was supposed to step into the role of the senior opener. However, let alone leading the charge, the Karnataka batsman has struggled to even maintain his place in the team. His Statemate Mayank Agarwal, who debuted in Australia, has looked the most assured willow-wielder at the top of the order.
With Rahul running out of time, Dhawan and Vijay not in contention and Prithvi Shaw serving doping suspension, it would be interesting to see if the national selectors decide to blood in a specialist opener for the South Africa Test series, set to begin in Visakhapatnam on Oct. 2.
Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran have been knocking on the doors of the selectors for more than two seasons now. While Panchal, the Gujarat captain, has the experience and a mature head on his shoulders, Bengal’s Abhimanyu has been in sensational form for India-A and in the Duleep Trophy.
However, if the selectors, in consultation with the team-management, decide to present Rohit Sharma the role of the Test opener, then both Panchal and Abhimanyu’s wait for the India jersey will be prolonged.
Considering Rohit’s exceptional run in the World Cup — he scored a record five hundreds as an opener — a section of the selectors and the team-management feel Rohit should be asked to open in Tests as well.
It would be interesting to see if the Mumbaikar gets a new lifeline for his topsy-turvy Test career.
